from Adam Kimelman of NHL.com,

The Philadelphia Flyers brought in a sleep specialist to help them handle the travel and time changes as part of their preparation for the NHL Global Series.

"There is going to be sleep debt, there's going to be jet lag, we can't eliminate that," head of strength and conditioning Chris Osman said Sunday. "Whatever we can do to fill in the gaps through naps, staying over when we can stay over, that'll help us."...

For the 7 1/2-hour flight from Philadelphia to Geneva, Switzerland on Friday, the players were provided with ostrich pillows, which fit around the head and neck, as well as eyeshades and ear plugs....

Osman said in general he heard positive feedback from the players.

"We had a bunch of guys that said they slept better than they expected to," he said. "It was a really nice plane and we could lay down so that helps. ... Lot of guys said they slept better than they [normally] did and it'll help us moving forward."

After playing their preseason finale against Lausanne at Vaudoise Arena on Monday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSP+, NHL.TV), the Flyers will play their season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks at O2 Arena in Prague on Friday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN360, NBCSP, NBCSCH, NHL.TV).

They'll fly back to Philadelphia on Saturday, but the Global Series isn't their only long trip early in the season. After playing their home opener against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 9, they travel to Western Canada for three games in five nights, starting at the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 12 and concluding with back-to-back games at the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 15-16.

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